From Psychics to Weather

Here are my thoughts on the next three books in my Kingly journey.

The Dead Zone (published 1979)

Years ago I stumbled upon the telly version of this book, the one staring Anthony Michael Hall as the psychic Johnny Smith. Just one more of King's books making the transition into visual media. Man, what a lucky guy! Anyway. I adore this TV show still, though I must admit I was so unhappy with the way it ended, but such is life. We can't be happy with everything.

Keeping the show in mind I eagerly delved into the pages to see how closely the TV show stuck to the book. All readers are guilty of doing this, don't deny it! Of course, in my mind I instantly picture Hall as John. The are definitely differences between the two, like the fact that John is rich on the show and not so much in the book. But the journey is roughly the same. It was fun revisiting Walt and John and Sarah and all the others.

Now I might want to get around to watching the movie to see how that fairs to the other two. Might be interesting to compare all three!

Firestarter (published 1980)

I had never even heard of this book, but was lucky enough to borrow a copy from my aunt's King library. It follows the frantic life of a little girl who possess telekinesis and her dad's desire to keep her out of the hands of nefarious people. I would consider this one of the unknown gems of King's career. I made quick work of it. I do have to say that speech/thought process of the girl did not quite match with her age, at least not in my mind. Maybe I just need to be exposed to more young children, who knows.

Good luck on me for finding the movie adaptation of this one!

The Mist

My first encounter with this story actually came about through a short story collection. To discover it was a standalone was startling, pleasing, and came with its own level of misgivings. What age I was when I first read this slips my mind but the story managed to affect me in the way no King work had before. Though the tight suggests mist the substance in the story is more like fog and after this story I discovered the inability to be out in the fog alone, specifically at night. I find it unsettling.

In my mind the suspense factor to The Mist comes from the simple fact that you do not know. You don't really know what's lurking in the mist/fog. You don't really know what caused the mist/fog, though there's speculation it might be the fault of the military. And you don't really know how far it has spread across the states.

I haven't seen the movie version of this either, but I am anxious to see what they've done.

On Wednesday I'll be back to cover Cujo, Cycle of the Werewolf and Christine, thus catching up to where I am on the list.

Welcome!

I am actually resurrecting this blog, in a manner. What is this blog, you ask? Well last year I got it in my head to read through everything Stephen King has written starting with his stand alone novels in the order they were published. Some people think I'm crazy. Some people think it's quite the undertaking. Personally, I'm enjoying everything the brilliant man has to offer. My original plan was to read the books and watch any accompanying movies/telly shows to go along with them. Well, I've read the books, can't say I've done much watching. Guess I should try harder!

So where am I? Here's a rundown of what I've read thus far and what I've thought of each book. Please bear with me, I suck at reviews!

Carrie (published 1974)

What an interesting way to write a story. I can see what it took a while for King to sell his first piece. As a writer this book breaks a lot of "laws" authors and publishers and agents tend to tell you to avoid. However, some of the best books break the mold and I found the he wrote Carrie to be interesting. It fit the story. If you aren't familiar with it, a bullied girl gets revenge on her torments with the help of telekinesis.

I enjoyed the story. Having been on the outside I suppose I identified with Carrie a bit. A lot of people have told me that this book would be scary, to me it wasn't in the least. It proved to be a quick read, enjoyable, the sort I couldn't put down.

There is corresponding movie; which I've yet to see. And I plan to see the original, not the recent remake, if I can make that happen.

Salem's Lots (published 1975)

Mr. King's answer to vampire novels. People in Jerusalem's Lots are curious about the man living in the spooky house. I read this book once years ago so it was kind of like paying a second visit to the Lots. There's something sinister lurking in Ben Mears's hometown. People are dying and it's up to a ragtag group to face the monster behind it all.

When I originally read this story I was younger so I'm not sure I really got it the way I did this time around. Leave it up to King to avoid the stereotypical vampire novel while making it work only the way he knows how.

No, I haven't seen the move for this one either.

The Stand (published 1978)

The end of the world is nigh. Good and evil are about to do battle. Evil is a man in a jean jacket with boots that makes his home in Vegas, of all places. Good is represented by a kindly old lady on the move. The remains of the human race are drawn to one or the other. If you like the current wave of post-apocalyptic novels make sure you pick up this gem. It's a long read, though, so be aware of that. I guess that's my biggest complaint, the drawn out factor. There's a lot of story to be told and Mr. King makes sure not to miss a single detail. I fell in love with a handful of the characters and was always rooting for them and fretting about their safety.

As for the movie, it's almost always on TV so I have seen a good portion of it. However, I have never watched it in it's entirety. And now I hear that they are remaking it.

Okay, there are the first three. I think that's good enough for the first blog. I do have plenty more to touch upon as I've read a decent amount already. This has been a fun journey thus far letting me revisit books I picked up in the past and also discovering new favorites. I will try to update again tomorrow.